News & Updates

Celeb Chef Glynn Purnell transforms into Panto Dame

This week, Brummie celebrity Chef, Glynn Purnell swapped the kitchen for kitsch as he went behind the scenes at Birmingham Hippodrome’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for a larger than life makeover.

Andrew Ryan, who plays Nanny Annie Aspirin in the show and has played the role of dame in pantos up and down the country for some thirty years, gave Glynn a head-to-toe makeover to become the fairest dame of them all including a full face of make-up, fluttering fake eyelashes, a show-stopping outfit and an outrageous new hairdo. Take a look at images in the gallery above.

Audience favourite Matt Slack also took a break from performances to teach Glynn a series of pantomime tongue twisters and the art of being an on-stage comic.

Glynn Purnell said “It was a fantastic experience going behind the scenes at Birmingham Hippodrome’s spectacular pantomime. My family and I have been coming annually to the show for many years and it was a real treat to get a taste of life backstage. Thanks to the honed skills of Andrew Ryan and Matt Slack, I have realised a dream of mine I never knew I had, to become Birmingham’s bearded brummie panto dame!”

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs features Lesley Joseph as the Wicked Queen, Matt Slack as Muddles, Joe McElderry as The Spirit in the Mirror, Faye Brookes as Snow White, Flawless as The Wicked Queen’s Men, Doreen Tipton as The Lady in Waiting, Andrew Ryan as Nanny Annie Aspirin and JacYarrow as The Prince.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs runs until Sunday 2 February 2020 – click here for more information and to book.